Homeward Bound
by IntoTheWilds
Summary: Prompt for Blufirewing: AU: Kid!Reid: Life's unfair, people are cruel and yet meeting one Italian man may change Spencer's dreary life forever...
1. Prologue: Introductions To A Tale

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Criminal Minds or their characters!

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Prompt for Blufirewing and cooooompletely AU. Kid!Reid and a whole lot of fluffiness after mild sadness, ENJOY my loves!

IntoTheWilds

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><p>PROLOUGE:<p>

INTRODUCTIONS TO A TALE:

Blood poured from a knife wound in his side but the boy of seventeen didn't stop running. His heart raced in his chest and with a whimper Tracey Sanders came to an abrupt stop. Hearing movement he ducked down, making himself as small as possible beneath the desk of whatever classroom he had run into. They had shut off the electricity. He had no idea what part of the building he was in, nor could he find his way out again.

Green Valley High school was under attack. Tracey had watched his two best friends Jason and Zach die in front of him and now they were after him. One had got a lucky shot in, before he ran and now he knew he was going to die.

Blood seeped through his fingers, pooling upon the floor. If they didn't find him, Tracey would bleed to death. Blue eyes darting about, he tried to find some means of escape. The far window was his only option. Wriggling from beneath the table, the boy whimpered and shuffled closer. His strength was quickly dwindling, vision spotting and one handed Tracey pried at the window.

"C-Come on," he whimpered his bloody fingers staining the paint work.

His fingers couldn't grip and his vision was fading fast and when the door suddenly slammed open, Tracey let out a shriek. The six foot and three inched teenager was reduced to quivering, fear filled mush. His muscles were but a distant memory and his usual cocky attitude had fled from him the moment his friends had become jerky. The four burly figures sauntered forward and sobbing openly Tracey slipped to his ass.

"Please, p-please don't kill me!"

But they would not listen. It didn't help Zach or Jason. Grinning, the smile malicious the biggest of the four stepped forward and slowly pulled out his machete. Tracey let out something that was close to a hysterical scream and scrambled back. Tears poured freely and the boy shook his head in denial.

"P-Please don't, p-please I-I'm begging y-you!"

"We didn't spare your friends," the leader sneered, "what makes you think we're going to spare you?"

"I haven't done anything wrong!" Tracey sobbed. "None of us has, p-please, just let me g-go!"

"Not gonna happen kid." The machete swung through the air, howling as it went and bit through Tracey's neck in one vicious sweep. His head left his body cutting off his screams and hit the ground with a sickening thump and laughing the group left, bloody footprints following them as they went.

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><p>xxx<p>

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><p>David Rossi swallowed his coffee like a man dying for it and hoped to God he was being dragged in so early for a damn good reason. One look at Aaron's face and he realised it was bad enough to be pulled from bed at five am. Following the unit chief up to the round table room he found the rest of the team already present. Derek Morgan was nursing a mug of coffee while Emily Prentiss looked as if she were nursing a hangover. Ooo someone had a naughty Thursday night, she had obviously had fun the night before—hence the mother of all hangovers. JJ was helping Garcia organise the screen and files and Kate Callahan was already pouring over the new case.<p>

"Alright my doves," Garcia began as soon as Rossi was seated, "we're sending you to the warm state of Nevada. In three different schools in the past week, we've had some icky murders. The cameras were disabled and so far the body count has reached eight, all aged seventeen, all athletic types and all like this when found." Bringing up the murder scenes Garcia took a breath and looked away.

Derek shook his head at the gory images on screen, "That is major overkill. The twins Tommy and Kate Jefferson were mutilated beyond recognition." He flicked through the file. "They had to be identified by their dental records. Jesus, that's a lot of rage."

"According to the coroner, the stabs on Jason Smyth were at different heights. There's more than one killer." Rossi looked up at the team. "We're looking at a pack with a lot of rage and very little time between kills."

"They've left letters at each scene," Kate said with a shake of her head, "they want us to find them."

"Not necessarily," Rossi argued, "we've yet to catch them on time. Even with a location they've slipped under the radar regardless, quite the adrenaline rush."

"We can discuss it at detail once we're on the jet. We're heading to Las Vegas, wheels up in twenty."

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><p>xxx<p>

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><p>Twelve years old Spencer Reid trudged through the halls of a high school he had long since come to hate and drifted toward each mundane class after the next. It was the usual crap, shoving him this way and that. At one point a book was tossed at his head, a fact he blamed his current headache on and oh look Miss Carlson was out again, the joy. Now they'd have to sit and listen to some idiotic substitute spend the entire class trying to gain some semblance of control. Taking his usual seat near the front, Spencer pulled out his math book and waited. It was going to be a long class.<p>

Just as the boy had predicted the sub was a waste of time. He gathered his homework just like everyone else at the end of class and got his ass out of there when the bell finally went. The day was over and once he crammed in some study time at the library, Spencer would head home. The halls were quick to empty. It was Friday after all and the students weren't hanging around any longer than they had to. The library was wonderfully quiet when Spencer arrived and picking his favourite desk near the back the pre-teen lay out all his books on the table, rooting for a pen and paper. He was pretty much buried to his eyes in Ancient Rome when someone cleared their throat. Startled Spencer's head snapped up and he was stunned to see Harper Hillman of all people smiling at him just a foot from the desk he was busy working at.

"Hey Spencer," Harper greeted with a warm smile cocking her hip in what could only be called a seductive pose, "What you doing?"

The twelve year was quite sure he was dreaming. Hell, he was tempted to pinch himself, "Um...J-Just homework."

"Aw man," Harper moved closer, "you're almost finished that history assignment? Damn, I bet I'll spend the whole weekend on it!"

It was official, Spencer's brain had shorted out, "No offence Harper, but was there something you needed?"

"Oops, I completely forgot why I'm here! Alexa asked me to come get you."

Astonished blinking and Spencer just barely spluttered out, "A-Alexa...Alexa Lisbon is looking for me?"

Harper smiled and nodded, "Yep, she said to meet her behind the field house."

Holy crap! That was by far the last thing he ever expected to hear from anyone, never mind Harper Hillman and yet five minutes later his belongings were packed away and Spencer found himself following Harper outside. The sun had dropped considerably since the twelve year old had entered the library and he was barely paying attention as he followed Harper. He still couldn't believe it! Alexa was the prettiest girl at school and she had asked to see him? Grinning like a fool, Spencer turned the final corner with Harper and his good mood swiftly vanished along with his smile. Alexa was waiting for him alright and so was the entire football team.

With a gasp the boy turned to run, "No!" He yelped when Jace Sullivan and his best friend Kit Stevens grabbed him, dragging him toward the gathered crowd, "Let go, LET ME GO!"

They weren't listening, none of them were and though they outweighed him considerably, Spencer fought viciously against them. They stripped him, while taunting him and throwing out harsh barbs, they stripped him of everything and tied him to the goalpost, beating him even as they pulled away his dignity layer by layer.

"Y-You can't leave me here!" Spencer twisted violently against his binds and shouted after them when they eventually left. "Let me down, PLEASE!"

But they ignored him and kept on walking, leaving the boy to his humiliation.

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><p>xxx<p>

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><p>Rossi and Morgan pulled to a stop outside the latest Vegas high school hours after arriving. Their Unsub hadn't been specific and Las Vegas had more than one school. They had started out at the station and ended up canvassing the area, splitting up to find any trace of suspicion at any of the schools. So far they had been unsuccessful.<p>

"I swear, at this stage I'm looking for trouble," Morgan grumbled following Rossi toward the school.

Rossi chuckled and shook his head. He opened his mouth to say something smart only to come to an abrupt stop. He could hear something, frown knitting his brow the veteran Agent gestured for Morgan to stop and urged him to stay quiet. For a moment all he could hear were the typical sounds of cars passing, birds twittering and then.

"HELP, p-please! Someone, HELP ME!"

The Agents sprang into action. Pulling their weapons free they took off toward the field and came upon a most unexpected sight. Heart in his throat Rossi holstered his gun and moved closer. The boy could only have been twelve, shaggy brown hair fell to slim shoulders, milky skin marred with fresh bruising and his wrists were worn raw from where he had pulled against the ropes tying him.

"H-Help," he whimpered helplessly, voice reduced to a tired croak, "h-help!"

Rossi darted forward, Morgan cursing and running after him. The boy heard them and his head snapped up, huge brown eyes taking in Rossi and Morgan in a terrified manner. Violently he flinched back.

"Easy kid, easy _piccolo_, we'll let you down." Rossi worked at the knots, pulling each free. "What's your name son?"

"S-Spencer," the boy croaked, "S-Spencer Reid."

Removing a pen knife from his pocket Morgan cut into the ropes and within minutes they had freed the youth. Shivering, Spencer yelped in surprised when he was suddenly covered by a huge well tailored jacket.

"There now _piccolo_," Rossi said gently, "I bet that feels better."

"Care to tell us what happened youngster?" Morgan asked carefully.

"Not really," Spencer answered hoarsely. "I just want to go home."

"We're Agents David Rossi and Derek Morgan," Rossi introduced gently, "come on kid, we'll take you home."

Oh God. He was fit to vomit. They had left him tied for hours, taken his clothes and glasses and for what? What the hell had it proven?! Nothing! Reluctantly Spencer allowed himself to be steered toward a nearby SUV. The men kept talking gently to him as they went. He briefly wondered if he was in shock. He really should have questioned why a couple of Agents were hanging around, but nothing was registering. Spencer didn't really tune back in until they were pulling up at his house. He didn't remember giving them the address. Wordlessly Spencer climbed from the SUV and like a zombie he made his way toward the front door. He knew there was something wrong the second he saw all the lights were shut off. The Agents were directly behind him and the desire to make sure his mother was okay won out over any embarrassment. Crouching down by the nearby plant, Spencer rooted out the spare key and let himself in.

The house was eerily quiet. The radio that his mother often had on in the evening wasn't present and when a familiar smell reached Spencer's nose, the boy really began to panic. With a straggled sound the boy raced upstairs. He took the steps two at a time practically throwing himself onto the landing. His mother's room was at the end of the hall and Spencer was almost too scared to approach. But he managed it somehow and pushing the door open, his world ended.

"MOM, NO!"


	2. One: If You Cut Me Would I Bleed?

EDITED:

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Criminal Minds or their characters!

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thank you so much everyone who took time to read and review! I feel so warm a fussy inside hee hee. Anywho, here's the next installment, enjoy my lovelies!

P.S: Come talk to me at Intothewilds Fanfiction (Emza) on facebook!

IntoTheWilds

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><p>CHAPTER ONE:<p>

IF YOU CUT ME...WOULD I BLEED?

His heart was barely beating. Surely he wasn't seeing what he thought he was?! Diana Reid lay sprawled on her bed and sheets that had been white were stained a horrible crimson. The red spread beneath her and even now Spencer could hear a horrible drip drop against the wooden floor. Her face was ashen; wrists slashed wide and a knife held loosely in her right hand. Eyes glazed over from death stared back at Spencer and somewhere between one breath and the next Spencer found his voice and the only sound he could produce was a scream. He hadn't heard the Agents, but he reacted when one of them touched him, going positively ballistic when one of them attempted to pull him from the room.

"Let go, LET ME GO! MOM, MOMMY!"

Rossi flinched when a tiny fist struck his sternum quite hard, but he kept a tight hold of the boy and the more Spencer wriggled and screamed the more his heart broke for the child. Morgan called it in. It took Spencer almost twenty minutes to calm down. The hysterical screams dissolved to strangled sobs, and eventually tired, hiccupped whimpers. Only then did Rossi loosen his hold. Spencer sniffled and sank to his knees. Tremors ran violently through his body. Dead, his mother was dead it couldn't be true! He was vaguely aware of paramedics arriving and police, there was police.

"Spencer?"

Head jerking up, Spencer's wide brown eyes found the source of whoever had called him. It was Agent Rossi. The man crouched to his level and his dark brown eyes were kind, "Y-Yes?" Spencer croaked. God his throat hurt.

"Is there anyone we can call, your dad perhaps?"

"Dad took off two years ago, haven't seen him since," _And good riddance_, "I've no family apart from my mom."

Rossi sighed. They would have to contact his father. Thank heaven for Garcia, she could find anyone! Otherwise it was foster care. Reaching out Rossi helped the youngster to his feet. The boy had—for now—numbed to it all and didn't require much prompting to go get a bag put together and get into some proper clothes. Taking a breath Rossi started toward Morgan when he returned from calling the team.

"Well this is a mess."

"You're telling me," Morgan shook his head, "that poor kid."

"What did Hotch say?"

"That they've everything under control for now." Morgan sighed heavily when the paramedics passed them with a body bag. "What do we do now?"

"We should call child services, hand the kid over, but there's a part of me that doesn't want to do that. I want to see if I can locate the father first."

"If anyone can find him, Garcia can." Plucking his phone from his pocket Morgan stepped away and Rossi went in search of their unexpected charge.

Spencer sat on his bed. A suitcase sat on the floor near his bed with just the odd item tossed inside. He had dressed in a pair of old jeans and a t-shirt. His contacts were in allowing him to see properly. In Spencer's hand was a ragged stuffed elephant and with tears streaming down his cheeks he clung to the worn toy. "My mom made him for me." The boy said suddenly, sniffling miserably. "She went through this phase of needle work, knitting, that sort of thing and she got this book that showed her how to make stuffed animals. There were quite a few failures, but then she made Izzy for me and I've had him since."

Rossi could see just how brave the boy was trying to be. Carefully he took a seat, "Spencer, was your mom depressed?"

Spencer sniffled and shook his head, "N-No, she..." He swallowed heavily steeling his resolve. "My mom was a paranoid schizophrenic."

Rossi nodded in understanding, "Was she on a bad road?"

Spencer nodded, "she was spiralling for a while. It was one of the reasons my Dad left. I tried to take care of her, but her episodes still got out of hand." Spencer let out a sob. "If I had been home on time, this never would've happened!"

"No _piccolo_," Rossi chided gently, "This is not your fault, do not think like that."

"How isn't it?" Spencer demanded surging to his feet, eyes wide, "I'm always home by four! Mom knew that! She probably freaked and went into an episode when I was late!"

"And what, you tied yourself to that goalpost?" Rossi demanded. "Those knots weren't coming undone without help kiddo; you didn't _ask_ to be tied up!"

"I shouldn't have listened to her!"

Rossi frowned, "who?"

"Harper," Spencer wailed throwing things into his suitcase at random, "She lied. She told me Alexa wanted to talk to me. I should've known it was a trick! Neither Harper nor Alexa have ever spoken a kind word to me, so why the hell did I think this time was different?! The whole football team was waiting for me! They stripped me, beat me and tied me up! I'm twelve. They're seventeen! How cruel can you be?!"

Rossi's heart went out to the ranting boy, but he was a little confused about something, "what were you doing at a high school in the first place Spencer?"

"I'm a student there," Spencer responded absently rummaging through books and placing them in his suitcase, "I...um...I have an IQ of one-eighty-seven, an eidetic memory and I can read twenty thousand words per minute, they moved me up a few classes."

Rossi blinked thoroughly stunned, he was a certified genius and the poor kid had had it rough. Bullied at school, only to go home to a mother who no doubt turned on him on occasion, "Not all those marks were from the bullies Spencer."

The boy flinched, but he didn't bother denying it, "sometimes she wouldn't recognise me and...Well...she'd attack me."

"And do you understand that if you were home on time, you could have been the object of her rage when she spiralled? Do you understand she could have killed you this time?"

"N-No, my mom—"

"Spencer, you're mom was very ill and unpredictable. Her medication clearly wasn't working if she was still suffering severe breaks. You were in serious danger."

"No," Spencer sobbed, "No, I wasn't...She'd never—"

"Spencer, I saw the scars and I have a feeling your mother was responsible." Rossi crouched down and tried to be as gentle as possible. "You're an intelligent kid, you know what I'm saying is right. In fact, I bet you're happy to leave every morning and you've been delaying home time, afraid of what state you'd find her in and when she finally goes to sleep at night, the drugs knocking her out, you finally breathe easy."

Fresh tears left Spencer's eyes glassy and red rimmed. The wet fell, adding to the damp streaks along his snow white cheeks, "I'm so tired...am I bad person because I couldn't do it?"

"No...No _piccolo_," Rossi shook his head, "I'm surprised you managed this long and I'm so sorry it ended this way. My co-worker and I are going to take care of you now kiddo; you just have to trust us."

Nodding, Spencer scrubbed the tears from his cheeks and moved sluggishly through his room. He grabbed the important stuff, clothing, books and toiletries from his small ensuite. Izzy was the last to be put inside, only for Spencer to change his mind last minute. He kept a hold of the stuffed animal and zipping it all up, Spencer turned to face Rossi, "I-I'm ready."

With a nod Rossi took the suitcase from the child, grabbed his suit jacket and gestured toward the door. Spencer stepped past Rossi, his hazel eyes moving toward his mother's room briefly before Spencer started toward the stairs. Rossi had questioned the boy in hopes of sparing him the annoyance of doing it with some unknown cop. At least Rossi had the sense to be gentler about it. Morgan waited for them downstairs and a brief nod was all Rossi needed to know Morgan had located the boy's father.

"Hey, wait."

Rossi sighed and turned toward the scowling uniform, "yes?"

"I need a statement from the kid."

"His name is Spencer and I will get a statement from him once he calms down a bit."

"Now hold on a minute, you may be the feds, but—"

"Listen," Morgan barked angrily, "piss on your territory somewhere else, Spencer is coming with us and when the kid is settled, we'll get a statement."

Neither Rossi nor Morgan gave him a chance to argue. Getting Spencer into the SUV, the agents got in, belted up and were on the road within seconds. Spencer was silent behind them, curled up as small as he could get himself, Izzy squashed against his chest. Tears fell unbidden and it was a heartbreaking sight.

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><p>xxx<p>

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><p>The scum, the scoundrels! How dare they hurt that poor boy! She watched the whole thing, from them hurting him, to the men coming hours later and freeing him, rage and relief coiling deep in her gut. He was just a child! And they were grown men compared to him! She couldn't do anything yet, couldn't have anyone see her, but she would help in her own way. She would get the rest together and those pigs would be sorry.<p>

How pleasant would it be to watch the light drain from their eyes and blood spill freely? Red had long ago become her favourite colour and with a malicious smile, she started the engine of her car.

A tune filled the car and plans, wonderful, blood filled plans filled her mind and made her smile.

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><p>xxx<p>

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><p>Spencer didn't really tune back in until they pulled up outside the station. Reluctantly he uncoiled himself and climbed out when the Agents pulled to a stop. Morgan took his suitcase from him and clinging to Izzy, he kept close to Rossi. Rossi was a silent reassurance beside him. People stared, but Spencer ignored them. He simply kept following Rossi, until they came to a room. It looked like a conference room. Spencer picked a chair at random. He vaguely wondered when child services would show up to take him away. Oh God, to spend the rest of his life in foster care was a nightmare.<p>

Dead, his mother was dead! Swallowing heavily, Spencer jumped a mile out of his skin when the door suddenly opened and others flooded the room. Rossi and Morgan stayed close to him. Discreetly as he could manage he moved to stand closer to Rossi, hazel eyes taking in four unfamiliar faces. For a moment they seemed frozen and Spencer knew he must look a right sight, trembling, tears streaming down his face and clutching his stuffed elephant. Eventually one of the women broke away, a pretty blonde who darted toward him and to Spencer's shock she fell to her knees and threw her arms about him and whatever dam was keeping the flood back broke. The silent tears became outright broken sobs and dissolving into her lap Spencer clung to her and quite frankly broke into a million tiny pieces.

Rossi wasn't the least bit surprised when JJ went to the boy. The mother in her wouldn't have allowed anything less and he was glad for it. Spencer seriously needed the purge. Oh sure he had cried already, been reduced to gut wrenching sobs and quiet whimpers, but a few more rounds couldn't hurt. Tears were the fastest way to push out the pain and it would be a few weeks before they went away. The team never looked so sad, each of them mourning for the boy curled up in JJ's lap. JJ moved and Spencer let out a distressed sound.

"Easy sweetie," JJ crooned rubbing his back, "I'm just moving into a comfier position."

Repositioning her body, JJ pulled Spencer closer and rocked him gently. For a child of twelve he was much too small. He wasn't much bigger than Hotch's Jack and Jack wasn't even ten. He was also severely underweight. She could feel every sharp prong of his spine and hipbones. First chance she got. She was getting a sandwich into the boy. As she rocked him, JJ hummed softly and when his weight grew a little heavier, the blonde agent knew he had fallen asleep. With Morgan's help, she transferred him to the couch and Rossi covered him with his coat.

"Where are we on the case?" Rossi asked making his way toward the coffee pot in the corner of the room.

"Nada," Kate answered irritably, "we've got officers at every school, though I'm not sure what difference it'll make."

Rossi dragged a hand through his hair and sat heavily, "there has to be something we're missing."

The team got locked down on the case and while they did, their unexpected charge continued to sleep. It was fitful, but at least there were no nightmares. Spencer didn't wake until Morgan shook him awake. The boy came too slowly and sat up, scrubbing at his eyes.

"Hey, sorry to wake you pretty boy, but your dad's here."

The mention of his father had a stunning reaction. Morgan could literally see every muscle going taunt, tight as a bowstring and his expressive hazel eyes widened in fear. Spencer in one word was absolutely freaked. He looked as if Morgan had told him he was going to the gallows.

"I...I won't go with him."

"Spencer," Morgan said surprised.

"No," the boy shrieked in terror, "Anyone but him!"


End file.
